April 19, 2018 - No. 031 In This Issue The connected aircraft is here, says Inmarsat ExecuJet Haite Combines Forces in Tianjin Aviation Institute of Maintenance Students Take First Place at Annual Aerospace Maintenance Competition Broken engine blade at center of investigation into fatal Southwest Airlines accident Air Transport MRO Market Is Growing at Significant Rate, 2020 BAA Training Establishes New Company in Vietnam Textron Aviation Suspends Citation Hemisphere Program FAA restricts Boeing 787s powered by some Rolls engines L3 MAS Goes Live on Ramco Aviation Suite SpaceX Launches NASA Satellite To Search For Alien Worlds The connected aircraft is here, says Inmarsat Inmarsat says that the new SB-S satellite IP platform contract signed with SwiftBroadband-Safety heralds the age of the 'connected aircraft' and will unlock a range of digital intelligence for airlines. Described as the first and only global, secure, broadband platform for operations and safety communications, it will, said the global mobile satellite company, transform the role of satcom from a safety utility to a key source of strategic value. The platform will enable range of value-added applications and real-time data to drive decision-making and improve operational efficiency while assuring the highest levels of safety. SB-S's commercial service introduction follows in-flight evaluation on Hawaiian Airlines' Boeing 767-300 aircraft and installations on the airline's entire Airbus A321neo fleet. SB-S is also undergoing flight evaluation with United Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines, and has been selected by Airbus as a Light Cockpit Satcom (LCS) solution for its A320 and A330 families. Inmarsat Aviation vice president of safety and operational services, Captain Mary McMillan, said: "With SB-S in commercial service, the aviation industry can now fully realise the benefits of the connected aircraft - driving greater efficiency in airline operations, while leading the way for the future of aviation safety. We are excited to see the real-world impact that SB-S will have on aviation efficiency and safety in the months and years to come." Inmarsat says that SB-S can reduce fuel costs and CO2 emissions through its Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) applications, including real-time weather reports, optimised profile descent and trajectory-based operations. It also offers a 'Black Box in the Cloud' service to improve safety and recovery. It also delivers aircraft health and performance information to the ground in real time, improving predictive maintenance and assisting in quick fault resolution for faster on-the-ground turnaround. SB-S also serves as the platform for Iris, a ground-breaking programme with the European Space Agency (ESA) that will enable 4D trajectory air traffic management which is expected over Europe by 2020. http://www.aircargonews.net/news/technology/single-view/news/the-connected-aircraft-is-here-says-inmarsat.html Back to Top ExecuJet Haite Combines Forces in Tianjin ExecuJet Haite Aviation Services China has formed a strategic partnership with Tianjin Binhai International Airport to combine its MRO services with the airport's FBO. The combination, said ExecuJet Haite, will bring "a seamless experience" to customers in the region. Aircraft based at the Tianjin airport will be able to benefit from preferential contracts under the partnership, the MRO provider added. ExecuJet Haite is an authorized service center for a number of manufacturers and provides maintenance, technical support, and AOG services for customers throughout Greater China. In Tianjin, ExecuJet Haite is strategically located, 13 km (eight miles) from downtown Tianjin and 90 km (55 miles) from Beijing. "Northern China is increasingly a hub for business aviation in the region," said Paul Desgrosseilliers, general manager of ExecuJet Haite. "We look forward to working in unison to enhance the services and support available for business aviation customers within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area." Part of the Luxaviation Group, Execujet has operations in six regions. In addition to the Asia-Pacific, ExecuJet has operations in Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East, with a combined workforce that tops 1,000. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-04-17/execujet-haite-combines-forces-tianjin Back to Top Aviation Institute of Maintenance Students Take First Place at Annual Aerospace Maintenance Competition HOUSTON (April 18, 2018) - Students from the Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) won first place in the School Category at the recent Aerospace Maintenance Competition, presented by the Aerospace Maintenance Council in Orlando, Fla. on April 9-12, 2018. The Council is a non-profit organization that promotes and supports the aerospace maintenance community, and the annual competition raises awareness of the knowledge and skill required to maintain safe, airworthy aircraft worldwide. This year, 72 teams competed over three days in a range of 28 different aviation maintenance technology skills. 48 teams competed in the Professional Technician Category, and 24 teams represented aviation maintenance schools in the School Category. The Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) sent two teams from its campuses in Dallas and Houston to participate in the competition, with both teams taking home honors in various categories. The five-member team from AIM's Houston campus, coached by instructor Mike Riccardelli, took first place overall in the AMC School Category, beating all other school teams in the competition. This improved upon AIM's record from the 2017 competition, where the Houston students took second place. Additionally, team members Cordero Garcia (captain), Joshua Borel, Fernando Viertons, Brandon LaMora, and John Davis won first place in the following events: • Augmented Reality (Borel and Viertons) • Fuel Take Entry (LaMora and Davis) • Magneto (Borel) • Torque Procedures (LaMora) • Fastest Time for Wheel & Brake (Garcia, Viertons, LaMora) For winning first placein the School Category, each team member received tools valuing $900, and the Houston campus was awarded a safety cable kit and additional tools from SONIC Tools and Snap-On. The five-member team from AIM's Dallas campus, coached by Kyle Schwarz and including team members Nolan Glahn, Jordan O'Neal, Julian Barrera-Perez, Oscar Castillo and John Le, won fastest time in the Pratt and Whitney Geared Turbine Fan event, which entailed removal, inspection, gap, reinstallation, and torqueing of the spark plugs on a Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. radial engine. For winning this event, the team won a Pratt & Whitney Training Scholarship to the Pratt & Whitney facility in Connecticut. AIM plans to send additional teams from its 12 campuses nationwide to the AMC event next year. About Aviation Institute of Maintenance Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) is a network of aviation maintenance schools with campuses coast-to-coast across the United States and headquarters located in Virginia Beach, Va. AIM students are trained to meet the increasing global demands of commercial, cargo, corporate and private aviation employers. AIM graduates are eligible to take the FAA exams necessary to obtain their mechanic's certificate with ratings in both Airframe and Powerplant. AIM's campuses are located in the following major metro areas: Atlanta, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Mo., Oakland, Calif., Orlando, Fla., and Norfolk, Va. AIM plans to open a campus in the Charlotte metropolitan area in 2018. Learn more at: www.AviationMaintenance.edu. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12408504/aviation-institute-of-maintenance-students-take-first-place-at-annual-aerospace-maintenance-competition Back to Top Broken engine blade at center of investigation into fatal Southwest Airlines accident Federal investigators are probing the role a broken engine fan blade played in the catastrophic event aboard the Southwest Airlines flight that resulted in the first fatal accident onboard a U.S. aircraft in nine years. What the investigators uncover could have wide-reaching implications for a popular CFM56-7B engine type that is used in thousands of aircraft across the world. Late Wednesday, U.S. regulators said they would issue an order within two weeks calling for inspections of fan blades on certain CFM56-7B engines. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt said the broken fan blade initiated a chain of events that led to the failure of the left engine and, ultimately, the death of a New Mexico woman onboard the flight, who suffered severe injuries when a window blew out and she was nearly sucked out of the plane as the cabin rapidly depressurized. The New York to Dallas flight diverted to Philadelphia, with seven other passengers reporting minor injuries. The victim in Tuesday's accident, Jennifer Riordan, died from "blunt impact trauma of the head, neck and torso," according to the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's office. The blade showed signs of metal fatigue, Sumwalt said during a Wednesday press briefing, with microscopic cracking on the interior of the fan blade that would not have been visible to the naked eye. "Engine failures like this should not occur," he said. "If we feel this is a deeper issue, we have the capability to issue urgent safety regulations." Southwest said Tuesday evening that it would perform ultrasonic scans within the next 30 days on all its engines that have not recently undergone that inspection. Tuesday's death was the first passenger fatality from an accident in the Dallas-based carrier's 47-year history. The company is cooperating with the NTSB and has sent a team to assist with the investigation in Philadelphia, but did not provide any public updates Wednesday. Sumwalt emphasized that the investigation is still in its early stages and a final cause for the accident likely won't be identified for a year or more. A widely-used engine It's the second time in less than two years that a fan blade of the same engine type has broken on a Southwest aircraft. In an August 2016 incident, a flight from New Orleans to Orlando was forced to make an emergency landing. No passengers were injured in that incident, but the fan blade did show signs of metal fatigue, according to a preliminary report from the NTSB. That investigation is still ongoing and a final report has not been made. The 2016 incident prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a proposed airworthiness directive calling for enhanced ultrasonic inspection of the fan blades of that particular engine type, the CFM56-7B manufactured by CFM International, a joint company owned by General Electric and France-based Safran Aircraft Engines. CFM International is dispatching a team of about 40 technicians to assist Southwest in the inspections. The engine is used by airlines around the globe, including on nearly 700 Southwest Boeing 737 aircraft and 304 Boeing 737s in American Airlines' fleet. While that directive has not yet been finalized and made mandatory, several airlines had already begun incorporating it into their maintenance programs. American said it began the inspections voluntarily in August 2017 after the FAA notice. United Airlines, which has the engines equipped on about 350 aircraft, said it began the inspections last week. The plane in Tuesday's accident was delivered in 2000 and its failed engine had flown 40,000 cycles -- counted as one takeoff and one landing. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said the engine had operated 10,000 cycles since its last overhaul and the company said the engine was not subject to the airworthiness directive. The engine was last inspected April 15 and there were no issues reported, Kelly said. On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the airline said the maintenance included a visual inspection of the engine and an oil service. The aircraft had no unscheduled maintenance within the last 60 days, she said. Sumwalt said the NTSB is "very concerned" about Tuesday's incident, but it's too early to make any connections with the 2016 incident. He described the CFM56 as a "very widely used engine" -- the manufacturer said its on 6,700 aircraft worldwide -- that has a "great record, generally speaking." On Wednesday evening, the FAA said it would issue an airworthiness directive within the next two weeks that will require ultrasonic inspections of certain CFM56-7B engines based on the number of takeoffs and landings. Blades that fail the inspection will have to be replaced. Accident investigation The first signs of trouble for Southwest Flight 1380 came about 20 minutes into the flight when the plane was at 32,500 feet and several cockpit indicators began showing problems and the engine began vibrating significantly. Sumwalt, a former Boeing 737 pilot, said the plane pitched drastically, tilting up to 41 degrees, whereas most flights won't bank at more than 20 to 25 degrees. The pilots, led by Capt. Tammie Jo Shults, leveled the plane out and brought it in for a landing at about 190 mph, about 40 mph faster than is typical, Sumwalt said. The fan blade appeared to break in two pieces -- one closer to the engine's hub and another farther up the blade -- and so far the NTSB has recovered only the lower portion, Sumwalt said. The agency has also not recovered any material from the window that blew out at row 14, including from inside the plane. "Our experts have been documenting the window frame area to understand how the window came out," Sumwalt said. NTSB investigative teams will ultimately transport the engine off-site for a detailed examination and teardown, with the fan blades undergoing a metallurgical analysis. Teams will also be reviewing the cockpit voice recorders, interviewing crew members and reviewing maintenance records for the aircraft as part of the investigation. Safety concerns Metal fatigue and a resulting engine failure have been at the center of a number of aviation accidents. Sumwalt said the agency typically sees three to four uncontained engine failures -- a technical term that involves debris escaping from the engine casing -- each year, although not all take place on U.S. carriers. Southwest's Tuesday accident has not yet been classified as an uncontained failure. Aviation safety consultant Peter Goelz said metal fatigue occurs as metal parts are repeatedly put under great stress as engines takeoff, fly and then land. Parts can operate normally over thousands of flights as microscopic cracks develop, until one day they rupture to disastrous effect. "Whether it's the skin of the aircraft or internal parts of the engine, they're put under great stress which means that any abnormality, either in the the manufacturing process or in an incomplete repair process can contribute to the failure of the part," said Goelz, a former managing director at the NTSB. Aviation attorney Dan Rose described Tuesday's accident as "a continuation of a trail of incidents that really should have stopped in the 1990s," referencing a 1996 Delta case where debris shot from an uncontained engine failure into the cabin, killing a mother and her son. In that case, the NTSB found that a fatigue crack in the engine's compressor fan hub should have been caught by Delta Air Lines during its maintenance inspection. Rose said he is not aware of any U.S. deaths from uncontained engine failures between the 1996 case and Tuesday's accident. "It's certainly a different engine, it's the same same safety concern... The passengers are vulnerable," said Rose, an attorney with New York-based Kreindler & Kreindler, a law firm that specializes in representing victims of aviation accidents. More recently, an American Airlines Boeing 767 aircraft suffered an uncontained engine failure, which caused a turbine disk to damage a fuel line and fuel tank, leading to a fire as it prepared to takeoff from Chicago O'Hare International Airport. That incident involved an engine in the General Electric CF6 family. One passenger was seriously injured and 19 others plus a flight attendant suffered minor injuries in the incident, according to a January NTSB report, which said the disk failed as a result of fatigue cracks from a manufacturing anomaly that was "most likely" not detectable by the in-service inspections being done at the time. https://www.dallasnews.com/business/southwest-airlines/2018/04/18/broken-engine-blade-center-investigation-fatal-southwest-airlines-accident Back to Top Air Transport MRO Market Is Growing at Significant Rate, 2020 Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/18/2018 -- Maintenance, repair and operation (MRO) plays a significant role in the enlargement of the air transport fleet. The Air Transport MRO evolved out of drift by airline companies to outsource the task of maintenance, repair and overhaul of engines, line, airframes and components to independent/third-party or airline operated/owned MRO set ups. A decade earlier, most MRO activities were domestic, with technical support from OEMs. Generally the third-parties are OEMs or supported by OEMs. The reason behind MRO outsourcing is that most of the aviation companies need to focus on their core business. The basic services provided by Air Transport MRO include - Maintenance and disassembly of heavy parts, periodic checking and repairing of engine, maintaining and enhancing efficiency of avionics, conversion of passenger aircraft into fighter aircraft and overall maintenance of the fleet. MRO is the major expenditure by any airline company other than purchasing of the aircraft. Huge investment associated with MRO which are made mandatory by international Aviation authorities can be substantially utilized through proper MRO plan. It also provide opportunity for serviceable and reliable value retention. The forces that drive global air transport MRO market are - continuous focus on cost reduction through maintenance, endless concern from airframe OEM's, introduction of new generation maintenance less aircrafts, Globalization and outsourcing of MRO market. There are some other factors that affect Air Transport MRO - Demand & supply portfolio, Research & development, entry barriers posed by leading players, Technology absolution due to continuous launching of new products, undeveloped automated software vendor market and low margins. North America and Western Europe has matured market while India, China and Middle East are growing market with more future opportunities. Most of the Air Transport MRO's and OEM's are located in North America. The global Air Transport MRO Market is segmented on the basis of Type, Services and Geography. The Air Transport MRO by type include Engine, Line, Airframes and Components. On the basis of Service, market can be segmented into Heavy Maintenance inspection, Engine service check, and Component maintenance, Line Maintenance, Avionic Standardization and Retro Aircraft Conversions. The market can be segmented on the basis of Geographic target market includes-North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Middle East & Africa. The Air Traffic MRO market is grown and governed by continuous technological innovations and collaborations. Automated software based MRO, RFID based Airframe OEM's Inventory support, MRO Cost & Performance Benchmarking, MRO Information Technology (IT) Assessment, LEAN Continuous Process Improvement, MRO Strategic Sourcing Support and Integrated component support & replacement. Due to introduction of Low maintenance Aircrafts the concept of automated maintenance and reporting system by OEM's is on global trend. Some of the Top players of Air Transport MRO market are ST Aerospac (Singapore), Lufthansa Technik (Germany), Timco Aviation Services (U.S.), Delta TechOps (U.S.), Mubadala Aerospace (U.A.E), Prattand Whitney (Canada), Rockwell Collins (U.S.), GE Aviation (U.S.), HEICO (U.S.), IAI (Spain) and Iberia Maintenance(Israel).Most of the companies for Aviation MRO are located in U.S. and Europe. Asian market has seen tremendous growth due to Development of Air transport Infrastructure activities.The MRO market in terms of Air Transport is growing with a pace of growth in Aviation sector. The Air Transport MRO market need to develop more sophisticated and automated mechanisms in order to gain sustainable economic advantages to third parties as well as owner Aviation Company. The better MRO facilities of Aviation Companywill result in better Service retention by the company. The future of MRO in Air transport is continuously justifiable with development of more end customer centric approach towards Air transport. http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3738912 Back to Top BAA Training Establishes New Company in Vietnam BAA Training, one of the largest aviation training centres in Northern Europe, has announced the establishment of a new company in Vietnam - BAA Training Vietnam which is to operate a training centre of 4 full flight simulators and Ab Initio flight school by 2023. According to the Boeing projections Asia Pacific region will require up to 253,000 new pilots until 2036. Looking at South East Asia alone, the aircraft numbers will grow from 1,410 in 2016 up to 4,200 aircraft by 2036, 77% of which will be made up of single aisle airplanes, mainly A320 and B737 family aircraft. The total number of A320 fleet is predicted to rise from 120 aircraft in 2017 to 226 aircraft in 2024. Starting from 2019 a number of Boeing 737MAX aircraft in the market will multiple, reaching 59 aircraft and will continue to grow reaching 317 Boeing 737MAX aircraft in the region by 2023 . To respond to the growing training needs in the region, BAA Training Vietnam is building a brand new training facility. As constructions of the training centre are underway the first Airbus A320 full flight simulator is set to be deployed by the end of 2018. To continue the development and increase the training centre capabilities Airbus A320 NEO and Boeing 737 MAX full flight simulators are planned to be assembled until 2020. In addition, BAA Training Vietnam aims to open an Ab Initio flight school in the next five years, in order to provide the region with complex pilot training solutions. "The Vietnamese aviation market has been growing by average 8% per year and is expected to continue its growth in the upcoming 20 years. By establishing BAA Training Vietnam we aim to share an exceptional know-how built through years of experience of BAA Training operations as well as securing region with the transparent and high standard aviation training for both corporate and private clients", comments Egle Vaitkeviciute, CEO at BAA Training. The new company in Vietnam is not the only proof of the successful aviation training business development of BAA Training. Just last year the company has announced the accusation of 4 full flight simulators (three Airbus A320 and one Boeing 737 NG), of which three will be located at BAA Training headquarters in Vilnius, Lithuania, by the end of 2018. Also, the company invested into the renewal of current full flight simulators and assembled a brand new, only of its kind in the Baltic States, Airbus A320 Door and Slide Trainer reaching an investment of approximately 32 mln. euros into training equipment. About BAA Training: BAA Training is one of the largest Northern Europe standard aviation training centres, where the experience of tailored training solutions is wrapped in personal care. Its people are united by the passion for aviation and desire to ensure the efficient training solutions for both pilots and airlines. In 2017 over 300 cabin crew members received training with BAA Training and over 750 pilots flew close to 25,000 hours in more than 85 full flight simulators extended among over 30 locations in Europe, North and South Americas, Africa and Asia. www.trainwithbaa.com Visit BAA Training Vietnam www.baatraining.vn http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12408501/baa-training-establishes-new-company-in-vietnam Back to Top Textron Aviation Suspends Citation Hemisphere Program Citing ongoing problems with Safran's Silvercrest engine, Textron Aviation has suspended work on its large-cabin Cessna Citation Hemisphere business jet. Textron chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly, who made the announcement during an investor conference call this morning, said the company is "waiting to see how the engine plays out. And then, based on that, we'll make our decisions and move forward knowing what the performance of the engine is." Some aviation analysts think that Safran's ongoing engine problems might give Textron an off-ramp from, or at least further delay entry into, what was promising to be an already crowded new-model, large-cabin market. "Sounds like [Textron is] stepping away from Hemisphere due to engine delays and due to likely competition from Gulfstream," said Jon Raviv, senior analyst and vice president for aerospace and defense at Citi Research. "Hemisphere always seemed a bit of a leap for Cessna, in terms of resources and market position, particularly given their relatively weak sales base since the 2009 downturn," added Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Teal Group. "It's particularly hard to make the jump to the top half of the market, where only Bombardier, Gulfstream, and Dassault play. "The Silvercrest's problems might serve as a rationale to kill the program. Alternatively, Cessna could simply go with Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW800, as Dassault did. Looking at the spec change between the Falcon 5X and 6X, there wouldn't be much of an impact to the Hemisphere's performance goals," he said. Rolland Vincent, president of Rolland Vincent Associates and managing director of JetNet iQ, believes Textron is likely to defer the program rather than stay on the pre-announced program schedule. "They have still to certify and then sell bunches of Longitudes, which over time will provide them a natural step-up customer base for the redefined Hemisphere program," Vincent said. "It's some more good news for the three large-cabin incumbents-Bombardier, Dassault, and Gulfstream-and any development programs they have under way or consideration; a fourth competitor was not going to help pricing discipline and margins in this space, that's for sure." He said Textron's decision all but buries the Silvercrest program: "This is a major body blow to Safran, but not unexpected." Vincent added that if Textron eventually proceeds with a Hemisphere program re-engined with a Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) powerplant it will "complete a coup d'etat for P&WC, who have really stepped up their game and shifted up-market, much as Textron has been striving to do." Analyst Brian Foley thinks it still makes sense for Textron Aviation to pursue a large-cabin program, even if that means delaying it so it can be reworked with a new engine. "Whatever the outcome, it still behooves Cessna to eventually offer a new, top-of-the-line flagship product to allow loyal customers to trade up to and remain in the family," he said. As late as December 2017, Textron Aviation had reaffirmed its commitment to the troubled Silvercrest program, even though the engine's only other commercial customer, Dassault Aviation, then had canceled its Falcon 5X program due to continuing development problems with the engine. The problems eventually led Dassault to launch the Falcon 6X program in February and turn to P&WC's PW800-series engine for that aircraft. It also prompted Safran to take a $720 million write-down against the Silvercrest program in 2016. Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier made no attempt to contain his frustration with Safran over the Silvercrest's delays at NBAA 2017, including fresh problems revealed days before the show opened with regard to acceleration of the high-pressure compressor at high altitudes. "We believed we were at the end of the program," he told AIN. "The final version of the engine was supposed to be delivered at the end of this year or early next year." In unveiling the 6X in February, he said, "I had no choice to stop the 5X program and find the best possible engine." Last year, a senior Safran executive told AIN that the company had a good understanding of the compressor problem and a range of possible solutions but had no fixed timeline for a solution. "We're committed to being an industry leader and will not back off on the performance specifications we want for the Citation Hemisphere," a Textron Aviation spokesperson told AIN. "We remain in touch with Safran on the 18- to 24-month delay of the Silvercrest engine." A spokesman from Safran Aircraft Engines said the company "is fully committed to continue and complete the development of the Silvercrest engine, all the way to certification, with our primary objective being to deliver to Cessna an engine in compliance with the specifications of its new Hemisphere aircraft. As we said previously, we are working on the HP axial compressor optimization and improvements, and all the progress that has been made are shared regularly with Cessna." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-04-18/textron-aviation-suspends-citation-hemisphere-program Back to Top FAA restricts Boeing 787s powered by some Rolls engines SEATTLE - Airlines flying Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets powered by a particular model of Rolls-Royce engine face substantial disruption after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) placed restrictions on how far from an airport the airplanes can fly. The FAA directive, effective Tuesday, restricts those planes from operating more than 140 minutes from an airport they can divert to in an emergency, down from 330 minutes. Rolls says the measure affects 383 engines currently in service. Boeing says that about 168 Dreamliners, a quarter of the worldwide fleet, have at least one of the affected engine models. The FAA order, posted online Monday, comes after the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) last week ordered additional maintenance checks on Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 "package C" engines after it was found that durability issues with blades in the engine core were worse than first thought. The FAA imposed the restrictions because blades in the intermediate pressure compressor of the Trent 1000s have been found to vibrate when the engine is operating at high levels of thrust under certain temperature and altitude conditions. The blade vibration can cause metal-fatigue damage and engine failure. The FAA said that over the past year there have been several engine failures due to the issue and "numerous reports of engine-inspection findings of cracked blades." The safety concern is that should one of the two engines on a 787 fail in flight for any reason, the other engine - working at maximum thrust in order to compensate - might be subject to the vibration problem and this would "significantly increase the likelihood of failure of the remaining engine." Boeing spokesman Paul Bergman said the FAA and EASA directives mandate action that Boeing and Rolls-Royce previously recommended to the fleet, including additional inspections of the blades. A Rolls-Royce spokesperson, via email, said the engine-maker is still developing plans for inspections with each affected airline. "We expect intense activity to inspect engines and carry out the maintenance required to continue for the rest of this year," the spokesperson said. "We recognise that this will result in additional disruption for airlines, which we sincerely regret." Each inspection takes a number of hours to complete. If an issue is identified with a part, the engine must be removed and taken to a Rolls overhaul facility. The time each engine spends in overhaul can range from 10 to 40 days. The logistics of transporting the engines adds time. To cope with the immediate problem, Rolls is increasing capacity in its maintenance bases and component production facilities around the world. Last month, Rolls reported an accounting charge of $315 million to cover ongoing repairs to the affected engines. Ahead of the FAA and EASA mandates, Rolls Chief Executive Warren East said Friday that cost will now rise. For a permanent fix, Rolls is redesigning the intermediate pressure-compressor parts. "Following validation and certification, new parts will be available for engines in maintenance early next year," Rolls said. Rolls said the latest version of the engine, the Trent 1000 TEN, now being installed by Boeing on new 787s, has built-in improvements and is not affected by the FAA directive. In the meantime, airline operations will continue to be disrupted. Airlines will have to re-route planes on long-distance flights over oceans and lease replacement jets for grounded 787s to maintain schedules. Among the airlines most heavily hit are Japan's All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Air New Zealand, Norwegian Air and Virgin Atlantic. Only about 14 planes operated by U.S. airlines are affected. Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman Leslie Byxbee said that of the 16 Boeing 787s in the airline's fleet, 14 are affected by the engine issue. She added that four of those 787s are currently grounded while the airline waits for replacement engines. Byxbee said that because Virgin has leased four Airbus A330-200 aircraft to fill the schedule gap, it doesn't anticipate any schedule disruption at present. http://www.heraldnet.com/business/faa-restricts-boeing-787s-powered-by-some-rolls-engines/ Back to Top L3 MAS Goes Live on Ramco Aviation Suite Ramco Systems, the global aviation software provider on Cloud and Mobile, today announced the successful implementation of its Aviation Suite on one of L3 MAS' In-Service Support (ISS) programs. The implementation of Ramco Aviation Suite has helped L3 MAS with real-time data visibility, ensuring compliance with the Canadian Department of National Defence regulations. Ramco's mobile-friendly Aviation Suite, covering Engineering & Programs, Materials Management, Maintenance, Compliance & Quality, Flight Operations, Mobility and Offline Maintenance, integrates with the existing financial systems at L3 MAS. With this integration, L3 MAS has streamlined and automated its workflow processes to enhance real-time visibility of operations and data compliance. The integrated material planning capability of Ramco Aviation provides for forward availability of parts, thereby increasing effectiveness in managing inventory levels to sustain ongoing operations, planned maintenance events, and aircraft-on-ground (AOG) situations. "With the selection of the Ramco Aviation Suite as a technology backbone for one of our ISS programs, we have begun to streamline and optimize process-intensive activities that will contribute towards reducing turnaround times, improving daily maintenance activities and ultimately providing increasing value to our customer," said Jacques Comtois, Vice President and General Manager, L3 MAS. "Technological advancements are changing the landscape of aviation maintenance," said Virender Aggarwal, CEO, Ramco Systems. "Bundled with Bots, Blockchain and other technology stacks, Ramco's deep domain expertise has helped us carve a specialized offering to address the needs of this segment, globally." Ramco Aviation Software is trusted by 22,000+ users to manage 4,000+ aircraft, globally. Designed to be accessible on Cloud and Mobile, Ramco Aviation Software continues to add technological innovations with 'Anywhere Apps', redefining the power of mobility, to significantly reduce transaction time both during aircrafton-ground (AOG) conditions and critical aircraft turnarounds. Ramco is changing the paradigm of enterprise software with ZERO UI powered by cool new features such as Chatbots, Mail bots, HUBs and Cognitive solutions. Furthering this, the company has also developed application compatibility on Microsoft HoloLens to bring Mixed Reality which improves efficiency in maintenance operations. With 75+ Aviation leaders onboard, Ramco is the solution of choice for several large airlines and top heli-operators and multiple MROs around the world. http://equitybulls.com/admin/news2006/news_det.asp?id=226137 Back to Top SpaceX Launches NASA Satellite To Search For Alien Worlds SpaceX has launched NASA's planet-hunting satellite TESS into outer space Wednesday evening from Cape Canaveral. Tess - short for Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite - will spend two years searching for planets near bright, nearby stars. The satellite was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The launch window was narrow - just 30 seconds - and TESS was to be deployed into orbit about 48 minutes after launch. "Following stage separation, SpaceX will attempt to land Falcon 9's first stage on the 'Of Course I Still Love You' droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean," SpaceX says. The launch of TESS was originally scheduled for Monday, but SpaceX pushed it back two days to conduct more analysis of guidance, navigation and control systems. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports that TESS will scan nearly the entire sky for alien worlds. The satellite will build on work of the Kepler mission, which found more than 3,000 planets around far-off stars: "MIT astronomer George Ricker, the principal investigator for TESS ... says the challenge with the Kepler discoveries is that the planets' host stars are far too faint to allow detailed follow-up measurements. 'We know that planets in principle exist there," says Ricker, "but there's really not much more we can say other than that they exist.' "The planets discovered by TESS will be different, as TESS will search for planets around closer, brighter stars. ... "The ultimate goal is to find small, probably rocky planets orbiting in a sweet spot around stars that's not too hot, and not too cold. Those planets could be studied using the James Webb Space Telescope that NASA is supposed to launch in a couple of years. Researchers would be able to use it to analyze the starlight that filters through the planets' atmospheres, looking for hints of habitability." Researchers expect that TESS will find around 20,000 planets to target for future study, Nell says. "If all goes well with the launch and calibration phases of the mission, the first haul of new planets found by TESS could be announced later this year," Nell reports. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/18/603746206/watch-live-spacex-launches-nasa-satellite-to-search-for-alien-worlds Curt Lewis